Washington, Aug 23 (IANS) US Democratic lawmaker Seth Moulton said on Sunday that his party urgently needs new leadership as he challenged veteran Senator Ed Markey in a closely watched Massachusetts primary contest.

Moulton, a member of the House of Representatives, said the political and technological landscape had changed while Markey was offering voters essentially the same campaign he ran six years ago.

“The future is now. The world has changed,” Moulton told CBS News’ “Face the Nation”.

Moulton said he and Markey agreed on most policy questions. The contest, he argued, was instead about whether Massachusetts should retain a senator who has served in Washington for five decades.

“It's not a personal thing with Ed Markey,” he said. “It's about whether one Senate seat should belong to one person while the world is moving on without him.”

Moulton pointed to Markey’s discussion of artificial intelligence during a recent debate. He said the senator had compared AI regulation to rules requiring seatbelts in automobiles.

“The point is, the world has just moved on,” Moulton said.

The congressman cast his candidacy as part of a long campaign to challenge the Democratic establishment. He previously pressed for generational change in House leadership, briefly ran for President in 2019 and called on then-President Joe Biden not to seek another term in 2024.

“This is very authentic to me,” Moulton said. “I've been willing to challenge the establishment when I don't think it's getting the job done.”

He said more than seven in 10 Massachusetts Democrats wanted new party leadership. Moulton also reiterated that he would not support Senator Chuck Schumer as Democratic leader.

Moulton accused Markey of accepting USD 62,000 from a fund intended to help Democrats capture Republican-held Senate seats. He said the money should have been directed to competitive contests in Maine, Ohio and Alaska.

“This is just a time when we do desperately need to challenge party leadership,” he said.

Moulton also defended his work helping Afghans who assisted US forces. His office, he said, had helped rescue “dozens and dozens” of people following the withdrawal from Afghanistan.

He sharply criticised the Trump administration’s restrictions on Afghan immigration, describing its policies as “basically just racist”. Moulton said his office continued working with veterans to move Afghans to safety and was pressing for broader immigration reform.

“Of course we should support the allies who put their lives on the line, not just for their country, but for ours, alongside our troops,” he said.

Markey has represented Massachusetts in the Senate since 2013 after serving for more than three decades in the House. A prominent progressive, he co-authored the Green New Deal resolution with Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

--IANS

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